Writing On The Web by Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad

Content Marketing Strategies for Smart Professionals

3 + 1 Bonus Content Marketing Posts You Don’t Want to Miss

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs, Blogs We Love, Content Marketing, On Writing Better

Have you ever worked too hard? And finally, finishing a project, find out you could have made it far simpler?

The other day I struggled for over an hour to come up with something interesting and relevant for you, my dear readers of this blog. I couldn't figure out a topic that appealed to me. (If it doesn't interest me and it isn't on topic for Content Marketing, how can I expect you to get excited, right?)

Well, two hours later, I came up with something, then saved and published. As soon as I did, I clicked over to Michael Martine's post on Remarkablogger:

Ten Ways to Crank Out Killer Posts in Ten Minutes or Less

Fist to forehead, I figure Michael owes me at least 50 minutes of time. If I had read his blog post first, I would have followed his great advice. I'm doing so now.

His first tip is #1: Pick three blogs you respect and introduce your readers to them.

How to Improve Your Writing: an uncommon truth

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs, Content Marketing, On Writing Better

How do you improve your writing? There's no question that there's money to be made selling information online.

You only have to look at people like Brian Clark and Darren Rowse to know that you can wake up one day, start blogging, and end up rich and famous!

There's a clear path from your brain to your fingertips on the keyboard that leads to creating written materials on the computer screen. Those words published on a blog can reach millions of people world-wide since there are 1.4 billion people connected to the Internet.

So what do you think the difference is between the big guys and you? Don't tell me you think they're brilliant and you're not because I'm not buying it. Talent is overrated. It's an excuse to hide behind.

For every gifted person I've seen on the Internet, I've seen a hundred who aren't making any money. Plenty of average intelligence people are.

The Right Brain/ Left Brain Tango: How to Get Your Creative Mojo Back

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, On Writing Better

What's your favorite way of stimulating your creative juices? How do you inspire yourself?

I don't usually get up at 2 a.m. and work, but when work's creative it's more like play, so why not? Here's two good posts to read and then I'll tell you why these two writers, Sean D'Souza and John Jantsch, are actually dancing the Tango together…

How to Succeed at Content Marketing Even if Your Content Skills Suck by Sean D'Souza. Sean is guest posting over at Copyblogger and makes a great point of stressing regularity and reliability. He says your content writing skills can't get better if you're not writing often, and if readers don't hear from you with frequency, they'll just 'change the channel, and go elsewhere. You've got to publish, stay on target with your messages, and keep readers informed.

Are You Right Brain Dead? asks John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing. Small business professionals often get so wrapped up in running a business, using their left brains for managing, organizing, and getting things done, that they neglect to stimulate their creative brains. Right brain functioning is essential to customer service, product enhancements, and in general finding creative solutions.
John says, "If, as a marketer, the creative side of your thinking gets shut down you can find it difficult to create engaging blog posts, elegant customer service solutions and innovative product enhancements."

So true. Here's what happens: It's Friday so you run around checking to see if your to-do lists are on track. You may even spend the weekend catching up with left over tasks.

Getting things done is so left-brain. And once that left-brain energy gets plugged in, it's hard to shut it down. While that's a good thing for task accomplishments, it's not the best way to stay creative and improve your writing skills. (And it's not as much fun, I think!)

The Real Problem: What NOT to Write About…

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, Online Marketing

There are a lot of posts in the Blogosphere about how to choose a topic to post about, where to find content, how to link to good resources.

Even though one of the most commonly cited fears of newbie bloggers and newsletter publishers is "What will I write about?" — I believe this isn't the real problem.

Once you get the hang of blogging, and you've developed your posting wings (2-3 times a week), the real problem is filtering out an excess of information. You must narrow down your focus. Weed out all the dead rabbit trails.

This is the real problem for most of us. I call it Reverse Writer's Block. It's when you have so many ideas and resources and things you could write about, you grind to a full halt.

The real question becomes: what business am I in? What am I in the business of selling? What do I want readers to spend money on?

I'm not denying that writing clever blog posts and newsletters that showcase your expertise isn't foremost. Nor do I diminish the quality of relationships intended in your content. But if you're in business, I'll assume that you have something to sell.

The 3 Must-Have Ingredients to Writing Great Content

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, On Writing Better

I'm talking about content marketing here. Not about copywriting for a landing sales page, although that might ultimately be where you want your readers to click through to. No, I'm going to tell you what I think are the 3 keys necessary in all your content marketing that precedes your sales copy.

This means writing content for your:

Blog posts
E-newsletter articles
Emails to your list
Twitter updates
Other social networking site communications
Comments on other people's blog posts
Web pages
Articles
Speeches
Podcasts, audio files
Video casts
Ebooks, special reports, white papers

If you think of other places where it's important that you write and publish content to market your business, let me know.

If you aren't writing sufficient content in multiple forms and places on the Web, then it will be that much harder for you to get enough traffic over to your sales pages where you convert them to real clients and customers. That's what content marketing does…

Each form has a different style, but here's what they all must have in common to qualify as great content that effectively markets your business and your products and services:

Unique, useful information that saves time, energy or money or in some way enriches the lives of your targeted readers. It doesn't have to be original or new. But it should be presented or positioned so that it's not ho-hum.
It's not good enough to regurgitate what everyone else is saying. Readers want to know your own particular perspective. Tell them why this is important for them to read and learn.

7 Ways to Leverage Your E-Newsletter Content

By Patsi Krakoff in Email Marketing Tips, Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks, Online Marketing

Michael Katz and Chad Board are experts at teaching professionals how to write and publish a successful e-newsletters. Today they reviewed ways to re-purpose newsletter materials and get the most marketing power out of your publication.

There was a lively discussion on the teleseminar, open to members of their E-Newsletter Success Program.
As some of you know, I'm a big fan of Michael and Chad: I really
believe that they've got the e-newsletter training stuff down to a tee,
and are teaching it well.

I took some notes. They came up with 7 ways to leverage your e-newsletter content:

Submit your main article to online article directories. My favorite is Chris Knight's Ezine Articles. Be sure to put your name and blog URL in your resource box so people can find you on the web.
Re-purpose your main article for blog posts. In
some cases, one newsletter article can be turned into a series of
posts, depending on the length. Of course, this goes both ways. I've
often turned blog posts into newsletter material.
Create a special report or e-book,
or an e-course delivered by autoresponders. What do your newsletter
readers want to know more about? Are there "7 insider secrets" in your
industry that you can share with them?

Top Blog Lists: Top42 Content Marketing & 9 Best Blogs for 2009

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs, Content Marketing, Promoting Your Ezine +/or Blog

Who are the top bloggers in your field? You need to know them and read them and leave comments. It's one of the top ways to drive traffic back to your own blog and get new readers. It's what The Blog Squad calls blog Outreach, part of the CODA blogging program which we teach in our Build a Better Blog Learning System.

Of course, it helps if you have pioneers in your niche like Joe Pulizzi (aka JuntaJoe) and his Top42 Content Marketing Blog list. Joe brings out a fresh list of blogs in content marketing every quarter.

Here's where I shed a tear and feel sorry for myself and this blog, because Writing on the Web slipped on the list from #3 to #12…but frankly, I'm just glad to be on the list in such good company. Joe has rigorous selection principles and isn't swayed by bribes.

Recession Proof Your Business: List 5 People To Be Grateful For

By Patsi Krakoff in About Blogs, Content Marketing, On Writing Better, Online Marketing

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Big changes for my business in 2009 already. What about you? Are you gearing down…or gearing up?

I know plenty of colleagues who are using their time well: revising infrastructure, ramping up their web presence, creating more content on the Web to get found by the people who need them.

You see, it's undeniable: People still have problems that need solving. Do you have solutions for them? Will they find you? Are you getting your message "out there:" on a business blog, on Twitter, on Facebook and wherever your people are?

Get back to basics. What's made you successful this far? I've been thinking a lot about that lately. After my move back to Mexico at the beginning of the year, I decided to focus more on my writing talents and services that earn me the most revenue. The goal is to work less while earning more.

I know many professionals who aren't using their time well. They're spending time and money learning about what to do but they're stuck. They think about starting a newsletter or a blog, and they do the research on the best ways to do this. They aren't jumping into action.

Copywriting for Twitter- How to say more with less

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing, How to...Tips, Online Marketing, Promoting Your Ezine +/or Blog

Are you on Twitter yet? You know I'm not someone to jump on the fad-du-jour. But when I see something that isn't a waste of time, that makes for smart marketing, I will tell you about it.

You need to be on Twitter. Why? Because top people in your field are there. You can find out what's going on, what research they care about, what the buzz is. If you like people, especially people in your niche, this is where you can meet them, and connect. It's content marketing in 140 characters or less.

Twitter folks will follow you back to your blog, and when there, are more likely to leave comments. It's a productive way to build readership, aka drive traffic.

It's not about "What are you doing?" Forget that. Use the 140 characters to ask a question, share a quote, share a thought, be funny or be profound.

I'm not a Twitter expert. Coach Deb and Warren Whitlock wrote the Twitter Revolution handbook. Nor am I a social media and networking maven. Denise Wakeman is.

Great Options: How to create a no-brainer

By Patsi Krakoff in Content Marketing, Email Marketing Tips, On Writing Better, Writing Great Copy

I just read something in Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely that blows me away. The Economist offered 3 options on their website for subscriptions:

Economist.com subscription – $59 for online access
Print subscription – $125 for printed issues
Print & Web subscription – $125 for both print and online editions

Wait a minute. Logically, this makes no sense. From a potential subscribers point of view, it's a no-brainer to choose option #3. Which is precisely what the magazine wants you to do.

This is really good marketing. It seems as consumers, we don't really understand the value of something unless it's relative to something else. When you can see options in context, it's easier to make a decision.

"In the case of the Economist, the decision between the Internet-only and print-only options would take a bit of thinking. Thinking is difficult and sometimes unpleasant. So the Economist's marketers offered us a no-brainer: relative to the print-only option, the print and Internet options looks clearly superior."

How can you apply this to your content writing? Well, if you're writing to get people to take some sort of action, give them options. Then make one option vastly superior.